The preparation of food products known as hamburgers is carried out by hand by taking a piece of meat from a cooking oven and placing it between two halves of a bread roll. As a general rule, this piece of meat consists of minced steak. However, the piece of meat could also be of a different kind such as a piece of chicken, for example. It is for this reason that, throughout the description which now follows, the term "hamburger" will designate in a general sense any food product consisting of a piece of meat of any kind which has just been cooked and is placed between two half-rolls of bread.
There are usually introduced in a food product of this type additional ingredients such as, for example, spices, onions or a seasoning sauce such as a tomato-base piquant sauce, more commonly known as tomato ketchup.
The preparation of hamburgers therefore calls for a certain number of manual operations which delay their production and increase their cost price. Moreover, this limits the possibilities of establishment of consumption locations as well as the periods during which consumers may be served.
For the reasons given above, the present invention has for its object a vending machine specially designed to enable a consumer himself (or herself) to order the automatic preparation of a hot hamburger which is ready to be consumed and in which the steak portion is cooked just before consumption. This vending machine is intended to operate at any moment without any need for personnel and to be at the disposal of consumers who are thus able to obtain hot hamburgers which are made according to requirements and not simply reheated.